Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a biomarker for diagnosing the toxicity of nanoparticles, a microarray chip for diagnosing the toxicity of nanoparticles, which comprises the same, and a method for evaluating the toxicity of nanoparticles using the same.
Description of the Prior Art
With the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials have been used in various applications, including industrial, medical and research applications. Thus, not only workers who produce nanomaterials, but also general persons have been frequently exposed to and come in contact with nanomaterials.
Nanotechnology provides many advantages and benefits such that it is recognized as a new technological revolution in the whole industry, whereas it is well known to have a potential risk. This potential risk appears to be attributable to the characteristics of nanotechnology.
In other words, smaller particles have larger specific surface areas, and these particles smaller particles have increased toxicity when they react with biological tissue. It has been proven through scientific experiments that the toxicity of several kinds of particles, such as titanium dioxide powder, carbon powder and diesel particles, increases to cause inflammation, as the size of the particles decreases. In addition, it was reported that ultrafine nanoparticles can penetrate deeply into the alveolus through the airway or the mucous or migrate to the brain. Additionally, several recent studies report that the in vivo accumulation of nanoparticles causes disease or a disorder of the central nervous system. Thus, in recent years, with the development of nanotechnology, the evaluation of safety of nanotechnology has been actively performed. With respect to this evaluation, studies have been concentrated mainly on devices for evaluating the toxicity of nanoparticles (Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0798149). In addition, a clear methodological guide or biological marker allowing the evaluation of safety of various nanomaterials has not yet been standardized.